New York Islanders
Islanders Blow 3-Goal Lead, Lose 4-3 in OT to Capitals
ELMONT, NY– After a red-hot start, the New York Islanders choked away a three-goal lead before losing in overtime to the Washington Capitals 4-3.
The Islanders are now 23-18-4 and are currently on the outside looking in, as the Pittsburgh Penguins won and hold the second wild-card spot.
LINES:
Zach Parise-Mathew Barzal-Josh Bailey
Anders Lee-Brock Nelson-Holmstrom
Beauvillier-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Hudson Fasching
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck
Parker Wotherspoon-Ryan Pulock
Alexander Romanov-Noah Dobson
Sebastian Aho-Scott Mayfield
Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov
GOALS:
Sebastian Aho gave the New York Islanders a 1-0 lead at 4:24 of the first period as he beat Capitals netminder Darcy Kuemper over the glove for his fourth of the season. Josh Bailey and Noah Dobson were credited with the assists.
Matt Martin extended the Islanders lead to 2-0 as he deflected Cal Clutterbuck’s deflection off an Alexander Romanov point shot for his fourth of the season.
Hudson Fasching scored his third goal of the season to give the Islanders a 3-0 lead under four minutes into the second as he snuck one underneath Kuemper’s pad. Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anthony Beauvillier were credited with the assists.
Garnett Hathaway got the Capitals on the board at 10:01 of the second period as he dove to poke a puck through the legs of Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin for his seven of the season. Alex Ovechkin and Marcus Johansson were credited with the assists.
Tom Wilson scored his first of the season at 13:08 of the second to cut the Islanders lead to 3-2. He was left all alone to pick his spot after a strong feed from Nicklas Backstrom. Dmitry Orlov notched the secondary assist.
T.J. Oshie deflected an Erik Gustafsson point shot at 5:54 of the third period to knot the game at three apiece. Evgeny Kuznetsov was credited with the secondary assist.
Dmitry Orlov broke free of Barzal and beat Sorokin for the overtime winner at 4:27 of the overtime frame.
Islanders Blow 3-Goal Lead
After a handful of lousy starts for the New York Islanders, things are trending in the right direction.
With their first-period goal against the Capitals on Monday night, the Islanders had now scored the first goal in three straight contests.
Against the Capitals, the Islanders were dominant out of the gate, getting off to a quick 2-0 lead like we saw Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens. They held the Capitals to just five shots on goal, with 11 of their own. Nine Islanders registered at least one shot.
But after getting out to a three-goal lead early in the second, the Capitals scored two before the end of the second and then tied the contest early in the third before winning the game in overtime.
It was one of the more demoralizing losses of the season.
Pageau Injured But Returns After Ovechkin Hit
The New York Islanders were riding high early Monday night against the Washington Capitals. After twenty minutes, New York was up 2-0 and padded their lead early in the third period to get up 3-0.
But then the Islanders lost a player to injury, the all-important Jean-Gabriel Pageau.
He did return to the contest, but in his absence, the Islanders allowed two goals.
Islanders Pageau Leaves (Then Somehow Returns) After Huge Hit By Ovechkin
Martin Snaps 18-Game Goal Drought
Islanders forward Matt Martin is not what you would call a typical goal scorer. His 18-game goal drought wasn’t the top story in the papers.
That streak ended on Monday night as he deflected a Cal Clutterbuck deflection for his fourth goal of the season.
Just how you draw it up! Cizikas wins it back to Romanov and Martin deflects it for the 2 goal #Isles lead! pic.twitter.com/awzOHr19Rq
— Isles on MSGSN (@IslesMSGN) January 17, 2023
In 73 games in 2021-22, Martin scored three times. With his fourth tally of the season Monday, he surpasses that number in 29 fewer games (44).
UP NEXT: The New York Islanders host the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night at 7:30 PM ET, the first of a back-to-back.